New Blog and stuff

Ahhh the irony .. I finally get a follower and I'm moving my blog to another site... its like just meeting your neighbours and getting on really well with them and then leaving the country!

Well not really but kind of...

anyway without further ado you can now find me at www.jworling.com

Hope to see you there

Cheers,

J

Stress leave and a possible cure

Hi,

I have had a whole week off from work on stress leave.  Some stuff has been going on at work that I can't say about here in case anyone from work happens across this blog.  I can however say that I have made a formal complaint against my boss on behalf of myself and the other restaurant staff.

Having the week off has been brilliant and has calmed me down so I now don't feel so frantic, angry and depressed.  This is great, a big feeling of "phew!".

While I have had this time off my creativity has gone through the roof and I had a massive realisation about why my employment situation has and is not been working for me since we have lived here in Australia.

Light bulb Moment!! - I am used to being employed in jobs where I am pretty much autonomous,  its been this way for as long as I can remember, since back when I was working in fish and chip  shops in my late teens.
Sure I have had a boss, just like every one else, but for the most part its a matter of "Here is the job, do what you have to do, here are the keys/code and don't forget to lock up when you are finished."

I am not used to having a boss who is constantly breathing down my neck, watching everything I do and mucking with what I am doing.  In my previous jobs I have been applauded for thinking outside the square, for affecting positive change and coming up with ideas to improve systems, advertising etc, etc.  I am so not used to having all my ideas flattened because "that's not how we do it" or "there's no money in the budget for that" (even though the employer has just spent $xxxxx.xx  on buying new photocopiers or other unnecessary shit, and my idea was free or at least very inexpensive.. think $10) Oh my other personal favourite is -" Head office won't let us do that"  OH REALLY??  Did you even bother to ask or is it just another fabulous cop out??

Anyway before I continue to rant and vent about how it is right now .. I should move on!  Which brings me to the point of:

 HOW DO I AFFECT CHANGE FOR MYSELF?

 

 

So a I just said not a paragraph ago, I am pretty good at coming up with ideas to change or improve things for other people/businesses, because I take ownership of my job, the place where I work is subsequently treated as if it were my own.  Perhaps then I could be taking ownership of my own situation and affecting change for myself in the same manner? If I put half the energy into doing what I want to do that I put into my employment then I should do pretty well. Oh and in case you are wondering and I know you are :-) I do have a plan, its pretty loose at this stage (kind of like when you start a new piece of knitting or when you are waiting for jelly to set!!) but its a plan none the less.

 

Anyway that's enough waffle and blah for today, I'm off to the gym (yes that is part of the plan!)

 

Cheers

J

Trip to Sydney

January 17 2013

I have had an awesome week so far! We went To Sydney on monday to go to Reverse Garbage and The Bower which are both recycling shop in the Addison Community Centre. I didnt buy much (which makes a change) but I did buy a half mannikin for $10, which has got my creative brain in overdrive and I have just spent the last hour covering it with plaster to make a sculpture of some sort.

Personally I think that the recycling place in Sandgate, Newcastle is better.. its more organised and has everything.  Reverse Garbage and the Bower seem to be more geared toward the people who make art out of recyled stuff.

We went out for dinner at Darling Harbour, it was fantastic to sit outside and eat and people watch.

We wandered around after dinner for a while looking at stuff and things then headed back to our hotel for what turned out to be the best sleep I've had in ages JOY!! Then after breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks we headed off to have a look at The Rocks and then on to Taronga Zoo.. which was fabulous. I never new there was a “Fishing Cat” which spends most of its time in water.. looked like a large tabby and lurks around in streams and things catching fish! Taronga Zoo is awesome and if you have a day to kill in Sydney I really recommend it. I got a heap of good giraffe photos (which are still trapped in the camera as usual :-) which will come in handy as source material for my year of the giraffe course.

I have the Market again this week so if you have time and are in the area call in and have a look around :-)

 

Sorry no photos as Blogger seems to be having some sort of problem with uploading.. GRRRR

Giraffe Sketch book cover

Its been a slow week this week so far … Its been too hot to do very much the last few days. I woke up yesterday and today and the temperature was 31. something degrees at 9.30 and 8.15am respectively. It hasnt been below 20 at night in I dont know how long, which makes getting good sleep a bit of a mission.

So yesterday I was contemplating the heat and the fact that the garage was already around the forty degree mark at 10am and decided that I would go suss out a gym in order to be able to continue with some form of regular exercise and not turn into a melty heat stoked blob! I am now a card carrying member of Genesis fitness and suffering from sore legs and a painful ass lol.

After I got home I decided that I better get on and make some stuff for the market coming up this month so I made a couple of book covers out of some fabric that I had painted etc and they came up really good. Then I was cruising through a couple of books looking for giraffe pictures when I came across a really cool one of a giraffe eating and ended up making myself a cover for my sketch book.. which I am really happy with. I think its kind of cool :-)

 

 

Source: flickr.com via Jay on Pinterest

Thoughts and plans for a new year

January 2^nd 2013

Welcome to the new year every one.. I hope you had a very safe and happy holiday season and all is well in your world.

I dont know about you but I dont generally make new years resolutions as I find that I have “failed” with them by mid afternoon January 1^st! This year however I am setting in place changes in my life that are positive, these are not resolutions, just simple changes.

1. I am seriously going to cut down on my drinking.. I know that sounds dangerously close to a resolution, it isnt it's just a positive change to save a little money, my liver and my sanity!
2. I will continue to create and play
3. I will get the hell out of the hospitality industry!! this will also help with the saving of the liver and the sanity.. hospitality is a great place to meet people, and a fantastic fall back if you find yourself out of work. I have noticed though that people who have made it a career suffer from massive stress, pathetic pay and are generally speaking raging nut-bars, psycopaths and alcoholics.. sounds delightful does it not?
4. I will start teaching art this year.. creativity classes anyone?
5. Oh I will also be a bit more diligent with my blogging :-)
   
   

So all this said what is happening already? I have already signed up for The Year of the Giraffe creativity experiment with Carla Sonheim which I think will be really fun and amusing. Click the button on the right to find out more.

Also I am going to be taking a fabric painting instructors class in February in Toowoomba, I just have to find an efficient way of getting there that isnt going to break the bank or take two days out of my life!

I also thought that maybe I might put some small creativity workshops on youtube or something like that and maybe start a fibre arts class in the valley somewhere..

Sounds like a big year doesnt it? I hope that it will be huge and awesome :-)

Weekly Challenge # 96 - and a bit of a rant

I finally got back to the weekly challenge after a two week break due to putting a lot of pressure on myself over my market stall. The day went well and I didnt sell as much as certain people in a close proximity to myself had predicted but still covered the cost of the stall.  My boss even turned up and his lady friend bought one of my large tangles!!  YAY!!  I sold several magnets that I had made from my tangles which was cool as well, I only sold one cushion but thats cool, as I was freaking out that I might not have enough stock for next month leaving me in the position of having to create hard out when what I actually want to to is some experimenting.

I just found out that my step-dad has finally gotten out of hospital after 5 weeks.  He had a massive seizure/ stroke and has been laid up ever since.  Its great that he is out finally BUT what really gets me, ok makes me so damn angry is that I find out on facebook!!  How hard is it to email or ring.. I only live one country away!!  I have honestly reached the end of my tether,  I never hear from them unless I ring them.  I am obviously not important to them. Geez I love my family.

Phew that feels better - Thanks for listening to that wee rant.  I think I might go do some tangling in an effort to get some zen-like calm about myself :-)


Here are this weeks weekly challenge pieces, Originally named Zinger 1 and Zinger 2 :-P

Thanks for coming by, see you next week :-)

Massive Antique Button Find..

Gotta love being a Womble!  I love Op-Shops, Second Hand Stores and Recycling/Re-use Centres.  I dont know what it is about it but when you find something you love and its not new its just plain exciting!!  Yesterday Matt and I went into Newcastle, originally for more Rit Liquid Dye but I suggested that we visit the re-use centre because we had never been there before and I needed some props for my market stall this weekend. 

I encountered no resistance from Matt for this idea as he is the original womble.. he will turn the car around to investigate something on the side of the road and he will generally pick it up.. as was the case with the revolting elton john style sunnies at Tocal, never mind it gives me something to give out to him about.

Anyway we duly arrived at the re-use centre which is at Sandgate in Newcastle so we had driven past it heaps of times on our way to the malls or whatever.  OH MY GOD it is Womble Mecca!!  They have a whole room full of antiques and vintage stuff then you walk out the back and its epic with all the gear they have.. we walked out $130 lighter with another $100 dollars worth of stuff on layby (I am finally getting a drill press.. JOY!!)

So I was puddling around looking at old cake tins and Linen and got a beautiful hand embroidered linen table cloth that would have taken someone a long time to complete, it will look great on my table at the market, and a large white sheet for my other table.  I found some funky ethnic musical instruments and was struggling to focus with all the goodies around me when I discovered the buttons...  $15  dollars for about 1.5 kgs of mostly vintage buttons.  I was in raptures of joy.  so many buttons, what a score!  Well after about 4 hours of sorting .. thanks for the help Matt :-)  I got them all sorted and I think there were a few antique buttons in there too...

Heres a picture from at the beginning of sorting

 

 

Of course I had to buy a couple of vintage-y cake tins to keep them in.. its tradition that buttons live in cake tins!  I have so many that I am going to have to start researching them so I can sell them appropriately.  Its going to be a big job but at least they are now in colour order :-0